Socket and sheath connection for wire cables.



C. J. COOPER.

SOCKET AND SHEA'TH CONNECTION FOR WIRE' CABLES.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5.1917.

Patented Jan. 22 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

C. J. COOPER.

SOCKET AND SHEAIH CONNECTION FOR WIRE CABLES.

APPLICATION FILED. lULY 5.19M.

LQMQWU Patented Jan. 22,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2-- 1275 .treading thereon,

CHARLES "J". COOPER, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS "SADDLERY HARDWARE MFG. CQMIAN ILLINOIS.

, ASSIGNOB OF ONE HALF'TO'I-I. COOPER Q :l-i'iOIdINE, ILLINOIS, A; CORPORATION OF "SOCKET 'AND SHEATH CONNECTION FOR 'WIIRE CABLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 22,1918.

Application filed July 5, 1917. Serial No. 178,556.

ticular application to leather coveringsfor steel flexible cables used in harness or analogous equipment.

Owing to the high price of leather, the use of steel cables in harnesshasfound considerable favor in recent times, and, undoubtedly, as the price of leather keeps ris- 'ing,'steel cables will be usedmore and more in place of the usual straps which have heretofore been employed, particularly in the case of traces or tugs, and similar places where great tensile strength is required.

The use of a steel cable in the place of a leather strap, however, does not altogether avoid the use of leather, as it has been found that in order to protect the cable from-the elements, to prevent it kin-king, and to avoid damage, for instance due to a horses shoe the cable must be sheathed with a fairlythick leather covering. Although this leather covering does not need to be as thick, or require anything like as much leather as in an all-leather tug or trace, it must of course be applied to the exterior of the cable in such a manner that it will adequately protect the same, while being itselfof sufficient ruggedness tolast as long as the steel cable itself.

T he principal objects of the present invention are to provide a flexiblecable covering connected to the ends of the cable in such a manner that-there will beno danger of the ends of the covering moving orsliding along the cable; to provide a convenient means of securing the ends of afiexible cable sheath to sockets within which the ends of the cable leather are respectively secured; to provide a construction of the class described so organized as to in a measure protect the end of the cable against undue bending and consequentcrystallization and breakage; to provide a construction of the class described which shall appreciably stiffen the cable in the vicinity of the socket; to provide a construction of the class described which shall lend itself readily to of Fig. 2

modern methods of economical manufacture,

while at'the same time being simple, practical, and efficient in use; and, in general, to

provide-an improved cable covering ofthe 1 character 'referred to.

In the drawings, which illustrate my invention as applied to traces or tugs used in "vention is applied Fig. 2 is an-enlargement-ofthe trace ends shown in Fig. 1

Fig. 3 is a section takenon the line 33 Fig. 4; is a section taken on the line 4L4 of Fig. 2;

Fig.5 is a perspective .of the rear socket before the cable end is .secured therein;

Fig. 6 is aperspective view of the front end socket before the cable is secured therein;

Fig. 7 shows a slightly modified form of my invention;

Fig. 8 is a section takenon the line 88 of Fig. 'l' I Fig. 9'is a section taken on theline 9-9 of Fig. 7 and Fig. 10 is a perspective view of one ofthe sockets shown in'Fig. 7.

Referring to-the drawings, 20 is a length of flexible steel-cable which furnishes the necessary strength in resisting the pull on the trace. Said cable 20 is secured at its ends in-the front and'rear of the malleable iron socket members-21 and '22,'the method of securing being the same as in ordinary practice; thatis to say, the end of the-cable is introducedinto the tapered aperture of the socket, as shown best at 23 in Fig.6. The strands are separated, the wires fanned out, as shown in Fig. 3, and solder orlead'is then pouredinto the end of the socket, thus rigidly and permanently securing the end around the cable with a single longitudinal stitched seam.

Describing the method of securing the ends of the flexible sheath to the terminal socket members 21 and 22, it will be seen from the drawings and the description to follow that the said socket members 21 and 22 are cast or constructed especially with a view of facilitating the connection of the said sheath ends. In the preferred construction shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4:, 5, and 6, each of the socket members is constructed with a pair of spaced apart lugs or ears 27 lying on either side of the cable where it emerges from the tapered socket opening, and located substantially in a plane containing the axis of the cable. Said lugs 27, which are made as thin as possible consistent with the necessary strength and rigidity, are perforated, as shown at 28, in order to accommodate rivets 29 by means of which the suitably perforated ends of the flexible sheath are se cured to the said lugs 27. The construction is preferably such that the 'edges of the sheath strips 24 and 25 match with the edges of the lugs 27 (see Fig. 4), and in order to prevent the rivets from becoming displaced, the ends of the same are riveted over, as shown at 30, outside of the small washer 31.

The construction described is effective in' several respects. In the first place, it insures that the sheath shall at all times extend all the way up to the socket and completely cover the cable without danger of an opening appearing between the end of the sheath and the end of the socket. In the second place, it materially augments the strength of the stitching at the ends of the sheath, and thereby prevents the seam from commencing to open up in the vicinity of the socket, which of course is the mostexposed part of the sheath and most subject to injury. It also, to a certain extent, stiifens the cable where it enters the socket so that the cable, where it enters the socket, does not tend to bend so easily, and therefore lasts considerably longer without crystallization or breakage of the strands; and, in general, the result of my construction is a neat and practical finishing connection for the end of the cable sheath.

In the drawings, Figs. 7 to 10, inclusive, I have illustrated a slightly modified form of construction in which, in place of using rivets, I employ short projecting pins 32 cast integrally with the lugs 33 of the socket members. Although this latter construction is somewhat neater than the preferred form heretofore described, it is to some extent not as durable or secure, for the reason that its efiiciency and permanence depend upon the security of the stitching.

The details of construction are of course cable is secured, a covering for said cable constructed from strip material having strip margins united together, and a member carried by said socket extendinginto said covering and interlocked therewith.

2. The combination of a tapered metal socket, a flexible metallic cable, one end of which is secured in said tapered socket, a flexible sheath for said cable, and a lug on the small end of said socket and extending into said sheath. 7 v

3. The combination of a flexible metallic cable, a metal socket therefor to which the end of said cable is permanently secured, a sheath formed of tough flexible strip material for said cable and secured thereto by stitching together marginal portions of the strip material, and a lug projecting from said socket, interposed between and interlocked with the marginal portions of said strip material.

4. The combination of a flexible metallic cable, a hollow tapered metallic socket in which the end of said cable is introduced and secured, a lug extending from the small end of said socket along and adjacent to the side of the cable, a sheath for said cable formed of flexible strip material and having a pair of marginal strip portions stitched to gether to form a seam extending longitudinally along one side of said c able,the ends of said marginal portions adjacent the socket being perforated, and a pair of members provlded on either side of said lug and extending through said perforations, said lug being interposed between the perforated 7 ends of said marginal portions.

5. The combination of a flexible metallic cable, a metallic socket in which the end of said cable is secured and having a pair of spaced apart lugs on either side of said cable and located substantially in the same plane as the axis of the cable, a pair of strips of flexible tough material superposed on each other and between which-said cable is interposed, the adjacent marginal portions'of said strips being stitched together and the ends of said marginal portions being perforated, and members laterally projecting from said lugs and extending through said perforations for securing the ends of said strips to said socket.

CHARLES J. COOPER.

Copies 01 this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

- 'Washington, D. C. 

